This is my second particpiation at the Ludumdare and I’m really happy with my entry.

This time I had decided to create a puzzle game before the beginning of the contest, I really wanted to find simple mechanisms because at my previous LD, I was aiming too far.

Once the theme has been revealed, I started to create all my needs for the story without really thinking at my game (the states, the context, …)

Once the console interface was done for the story, I started to thing about puzzle games in a 2D map that could be considered as a tiny world.

Then the idea came and I made this game where you need to connect all the block with the same color together.

Each time I work on a game (not only for the LD), I prefer to have something polished instead of something with a lot of bugs, that’s why sometimes I’m cuting some features.

When I say polish, I mean my game has a menu, a story, a way to exit, even a save file, … it’s all this little point that I really care about but that are not enough rewarded in the way to judge games for LD.

My biggest problem after the graphics is the music, I never know how to use softwares so I do nothing. I will try to find a way to add easily some musics to my gnext game

I’m not really sure how PM works but I will try to do like everyone else. IB4, I’m not native english speaker so sorry for my mistakes and if there is something really impossible to understand, tell me.

First of all it was my first participation and if I’m not busy like hell next time, I’m in again.

I’m really happy to have been able to finish my game, 5 levels and a boss to conclude the adventure (but the story is a lame). For the game design, it’s simple, you aren’t really controlling the main caracter, he is scared so you just help him to run away by making him jump, roll or dive.

What went right:

My tools: I’m really familiar with most of them, I’m using Visual Studio since years to develop, I’m using Paint.NET to draw because it is so really easy to use for basic drawing (even if I suck at it) and I discovered BFXR to make really easily sound effects.

Friends: Indeed, during all the event I was connected on IRC (french chan), on mumble and streaming on twitchtv for them, so, when I wasn’t focusing on math for collision (for exemple) and deafen myself, I could talk without focus 100% on my job, like in an open space but still being active on it. (My dual screen approved this, all the work on the main and all the communication on the second).

Priority orders: After finding the idea and making clear what I wanted to see in my game, I started by creating the engine, the level made with pictures, then the beginning of the graphics, then the physic, the foes, the level design, the opening, the ending, the menu and to conclude the sounds. In this order, I was able to create a game that suits me even if I wasn’t finishing it. (I even made a save file and I’m proud of it ^^”)

Sacrifices for time: I was able to make some sacrifice like remove an environment, less sleep, always to gain some time. (I kick the first one saying I saved time on graphics :P)

What went wrong:

Graphics: It’s one of my worst gaps in game dev, so I need to work on it, I swear, I will be able to make better pixel art next time.

Sleep: I had a sleepless night few days before, I had really short nights during the contest so I felt it but could overcome it by focusing on other things.

Social life: Really weird when you have a familly meal on sunday and you need to explain them why your leaving the table between each dishes.

Maths: I really like math but when seconds count, that’s really not fun debugging collisions and physic, it took most of my time on saturday, I’m not totaly satisfied by my physic but it runs and that was the important point.

Idea: Despite of the fact that I went to bed just after the dicover of the theme, I found an idea but not something really amazing, plateform games are games really hard to inovate so I hope I will be able to spend a bit more time on finding a really original game next time.

To conclude, the game is almost how I imaginated it, I’m really not satisfied by the graphics (I thing you must know it now) but that was a really good experience. Maybe next time I will make more gambles (like new tools or try crazy things).

I will probably work on it a bit more when I will be able to fix my HDD that crashed last week, with all my data and my tools and my OS on it

Then I create on my paint editor a new image where 1 pixel is one tile in the game (classic).

To choose which tile to use, I work on the Red color, Grass will be 0, Water will be 100 …

Then I add foes, bonus, checkpoints and tuto points with Green color

And to conclude, the Blue allows me to select a specific one. For exemple I can chose the foeI want to spawn.

Here are my maps

For the last one, that’s what we have in game:

In the game, the loading is really static, I could have added information on the Alpha of the first pixel to store data on the level for exemple the set (if it’s forest or lava) and the id (to know the order).